In addition to Christmas, this time of year also means some holiday dress shopping! There are holiday parties galore, New Years Eve is right around the corner, and if you’re me your husband’s 30th birthday is on the 1st!

I looked through my closet to try to scrounge up something fun, but nothing was feeling right. Most of my dresses are California casual and don’t hold up in the cold East coast winter temps. So a new dress was in order. Woo hoo! I love actually having a real reason to shop and not just because I’m bored. Thankfully my friend Jen also needed a new dress so we went on a dress shopping mission today.

The first stop was Nordstrom. We went straight for the sale racks being the thrifty girls we are. But of course the pretty displays up by the front of the dress section loured us in. I swear I am an advertiser’s dream! I totally go for the “newest” looks that are placed on display. We both tried on tons of dresses, some good, some bad, and some well maybe better suited for a someone 10 years our senior.

I found this Taylor dress. I put it on and it fit like a glove! You know the kind where the zipper just slides right up, no shuffling around, just perfect fit. And for once I can actually say that I look better in the dress than this model does – yay confidence boost!

Via nordstrom.com

Jen also found a perfect fitting dress, actually by Jessica Simpson surprisingly (now if that damn girl could wear some clothes that fit her body right that would be a nice change). Either way this dress is beautiful (Jen found a navy blue version), and the one shoulder look is a total favorite of mine. And the rosettes on the side are a perfect embellishment.

Via nordstrom.com

But despite our love for these dresses we couldn’t just buy the first things we saw. I mean I want to take full advantage of this shopping excursion! This is what men don’t understand. Women like to look around, compare, try on lots of pretty things before actually deciding on something. It’s the fun of the hunt sometimes 😉

Next up was Banana Republic. We saw some cute tops, scarves, and cardigans but honestly their display of dresses was a little lack luster. They were all muted tones with little pizazz going on. I mean they were nice, but not nice enough to drop $180 on. So we left before I could start oogling the bags and jewelry for myself.

Third stop was Macy’s. I don’t know what’s up with the Santa Barbara Macy’s but there was nothing. It was a mix of dresses I wore when I was in high school and dresses a mother of the bride would wear. It’s like they skipped the whole chic cocktail dress and opted for ill-fitting polyester dresses. Just bad stuff.

The next 2 stops were random little stores, ANGL and Inspire. Oh dear God I just wanted to laugh. They are both kind of Forever 21 knock-offs but with the crap Forever 21 didn’t want. So because we didn’t want to look like Snooki and JWoww are our fashion inspirations we high tailed it out of there.

Via media.nj.com

Last stop was White House/Black Market. They always have tons of dresses and plenty of holiday wear. They also tend to be overpriced in my opinion, but it was definitely worth a shot. I found this little sparkly number.

Via whitehouseblackmarket.com

Super cute and very festive. But I worried that I would only want to wear it for events like NYE. I was looking for a dress that I could wear to a cocktail dinner, wedding, or just a romantic date with my husband. This dress felt more Vegas/girls night out, which I do enjoy those but I don’t tend to have them quite as often now as I did back when I was 21. So to the sales clerk’s dismay I didn’t purchase anything. And she was a pushy lady too!

Jen did however buy these adorable peep toe pumps. They look even cuter in person on her! She was a little wishy-washy at first but after I begged her to buy them so I could envy them, she caved and got them 😉

Via whitehouseblackmarket.com

So after 2 hours of searching and trying on plenty of dresses, we both went back to Nordstroms and bought the 2 dresses we originally fell in love with. I love when that happens 🙂

So I’m thinking for NYE/Mike’s 30th I’m going to snazz up the black dress with some fun red peep toes shoes, gold dangling earrings, and a sparkly clutch. I feel festive already just looking at these things!

3 Responses to Holiday Dress Shopping: the good, the bad, and the ugly

I have issues when it comes to buying dressing for something in the wintertime! I think I’ve come to the conclusion that you’re never going to be dressed warm enough for the weather outside, so you might as well get a kick butt dress and wear the heck out of it. 🙂

Lately I feel lucky to fit into anything in my closet. But, I remember with great fondness when my dress size was a 6-8. I could always find that perfect dress for that special occasion and it spoke volumes about who I was, what I felt and where I was going. Later in life I learned that clothes do not define who we are. Thank God… so now I dress to be comfortable and use my unique selection of jewelry to express myself. But, it was a pleasure to read this blog and remember a time when…… So here is to you and your holiday shopping – – hope to see you in your best finds!

A Little About Me

My name is Lindsey and I started blogging in an attempt to share with others my journey on finding peace in this crazy life. I'm getting a PhD in Psychology and love the work I do, but it leaves little room for my own sanity. So follow me on my quest for balance through food, wine, music, celebrity gossip, and everyone I meet in between.

Drop me a line

themorningstarproject@gmail.com

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